Iris and the List

Iris and Grief

We had the cab drop us off two blocks away from our hotel so that we wouldn't attract any attention. It was colder and very dark, for some reason there were barely any street lights over here. We were walking silently, with Bradley leading the way back towards the hotel. I wasn't very confident in his abilities to get us back there, even though it was almost impossible to get lost, considering we weren't far at all from the hotel.

Finally we reached the hotel. Colton held the door for all of us. We stood in the lobby for a moment while I dug through my bag, searching for our room key. Had I packed it?
"I don't have it. Did one of you grab it?" I said finally.

Ginger and Bee shook their heads. Bee was supposed to be the responsible one, and she failed us.

I sighed dramatically. "Well I guess we'll just have to ask our buddy at the front desk for an extra key. Ginger, you go do it."

Ginger refused to do it, because she was "so comfortable" on the couch snuggling with Rory. Colton was dozing off on the couch. Seriously? We had been here for like five minutes and they were already too comfortable to do anything? I sat down on an armchair across from them. "Well I'm not doing it." I said.

Bradley jumped up from his spot on the couch. "I'll go talk to Desk Dude!" He walked towards the desk, and leaned on it. "Hey bro. Can I get an extra room key for Room 22?"

The Desk Dude, I feel weird calling him that, shook his head. "Sorry," He said, not sounding sorry at all, "I am not allowed to release hotel keys to minors. My apologies once again. I would have to call the adult you're with. And judging by your earlier comments on not telling Mrs. Fitzgerald, I don't think you want that."

Bradley frowned. "I've got another twenty, if that changes your mind."

The Desk Dude sneered. "It doesn't."

Bradley walked back towards us. "I guess we'll just have to spend the night in the lobby. I call the couch."

The Desk Dude smiled evily. That is not an exaggeration. "Sorry. The lobby closes in ten minutes, and I will have to ask you to leave."

I sighed. "Well I guess we'll have to go outside and walk around. When does the lobby reopen?" I asked.

"Six am." He answered. It was 11:50 now, which meant we had six hours and ten minutes that we had to spend roaming the city.

"Well I guess we're leaving then. Come on guys." I said.

Everybody stood up, and we were almost to the door when a voice said, "You guys are not going anywhere."

It was my mother.

I slowly turned around. "Oh, um, hello Mother." I said.

She narrowed her eyes. "Sit. Now. All of you."

We meekly obeyed her commands.

"I can't believe you! You were told not to sneak out. And what do you do? Sneak out. And you can't even be responsible about it! You leave your room key behind, and then have to sneak out again and stay out. Unbelievable. I'm so disappointed."

We said nothing. Most of us were hanging our heads in shame except for Bradley, who was trying not to laugh.

"Maybe I should send you back to America." She said, shaking her head.

"Mom! No. We're super sorry. We won't do it again. Right guys?" I looked at them.

They all nodded.

"In fact, you can ground us for the weekend. We'll just stay in our rooms for the weekend." I continued.

My friends didn't look quite as on board with this, but they nodded reluctantly anyways.
My Mom tilted her head, as if she was thinking about this. "That seems reasonable. But if it happens again, you're going back to America. Clear?"